Fate Can't Escape Destiny
by CoRpAsItE
Summary: Rewrite of End Game. Dusty survived the destruction of Riley, joined up with fellow survivors to fight Umbrella. A simple mission sends him a more dangerous mission, with enemies of the past. Nightmares never end.
1. Chapter 1

**Resident Evil: Fate Can't Escape Destiny**

It was supposed to be a simple information mission… Sneak in, obtain all you can on the subject, and flag your transport at the Escape Zone. But all that kind of took a turn down a long, terrible road. Which is where Dusty finds himself now as he stares up at a gargantuan reptile, its tongue darting out to lick the fresh blood from its scaly lips. The revolver is heavy in his hands, fatigue deciding to rear its ugly head as he raises the weapon. The sights are fixed on the bloody flower resting on the snake's head, his index finger squeezing the trigger slowly…

_It's like I'm destined to fight these things forever… Are the Fates and Destiny herself conspiring against me?_

**Thirty-Six Hours Earlier**

The world is black, no light, barely any sound.. A voice stirs around in the dark, followed by the droning sound of a helicopter engine. As brown eyes flutter open, the world turns red and several more soldiers appear before the man, who yawns loudly. Before him, around seven soldiers fight for weapons and ammunition, as usual for this particular team. He chuckles at this, their S.T.A.R.S. insignias reflecting the bio-hazard warning light back into his face. These are not the same S.T.A.R.S. of old, these are the new teams, new platoons, that Chris Redfield, Jill Valentine, Barry Burton, and Rebecca Chambers created Post-Raccoon City.

"Mr. Stracener?" the voice commands his attention.

Dusty Stracener rolls over toward the soldier, "What can I help you with Mr. Rao?"

Kenil Rao, the leader of S.T.A.R.S. Foxtrot, holds up a small PDA and flashes a bit of info at him, "They say a bio-hazard has already been declared at the Vancouver Headquarters. This is the only photo of any BOW roaming the facility.."

Dusty slowly takes the photo and stares at it, "Licker. Most likely an Alpha judging from the enlarged talons and almost primate-like stature."

_Well this might be entertaining… Seems Umbrella is working with a more unstable virus…_ he sighs and adjusts the red hoodie before standing up.

"Two by Twos. Prep begins now!" the helicopter suddenly lurches to the right, knocking the brunette almost out of the cabin, "Oh what the fuck is this?"

Dusty pops into the cockpit just in time to see something large slam into the plexiglass windshield. The glass explodes from the force, the sudden pressure slamming the door shut in his face. Brown eyes frantically search for parachutes, demanding his soldiers prepare for emergency drop.

"Ok, we'll drop in standar-" suddenly Dusty is falling through the night sky.

_Ok… This is good…_the Riley Policeman pops open the chute around his waist, a dark blue wall appearing around him.

As the brunette survivor controls the chute, guiding himself to safety, Dusty hopes for one thing, "Please, God, tell me they're following behind me?"

A huge gust of wind spins him around, revealing there is no such luck in his hope. The helicopter explodes as it is attacked by several flying BOW. A silent prayer is said for his team, then trees snap around him as Dusty crashes through the canopy of forestry surrounding the S.T.A.R.S. Canada Headquarters. This facility is located about a good seven-hundred miles north of the Raccoon Crater. A loud grunt echoes through the forest as Dusty becomes entangled in his parachute strings and random vines. A flash of light reveals his knife and the restraining articles are promptly cut.

"Oh hell.." the ex-policeman falls the last few meters to the ground, pain shooting through his right leg.

"OK, so am possibly a good three miles from the main building and… What's this?" something buzzes in his pocket.

The device is pulled out: Kenil's PDA, "Rao! Rao!? Report! What happened to the team?"

The ear piece is slid behind his left ear, "Sir, this is Dusty Stracener. Several BOW took out the transport, I am the only survivor."

"Missing is still Green. Repeat. Mission is still Green. Proceed to the main building and proceed with mission parameters."

"With just one person? One who isn't even properly equipped?"

"You still have a gun right?" perfect time for Base to be a smartass….

The Beretta M93R is raised and Dusty checks for extra ammunition, "Yes.. Two clips of ammunition… Stracener, out."

The link is closed, Dusty has no idea this is the last time he'll ever talk to anyone from the new S.T.A.R.S. Base. The wind picks up a bit, knocking dirt and dead grass into the air, giving the entire scene a ghostly feel. Another quick check for the essentials: S.T.A.R.S. Badge, Pick Set, and gun. Once he confirms that he has lost nothing in his surprise plummet, the soldier begins his trek to the headquarters under siege.

_Please don't let this be a waste of my time…_

11

"Isis Test Number 011A76-X. Researcher Identification: Akechi Echo-Seven. Subject: twenty-four year-old male, um… Romanian descent, six feet four inches tall. About one-eighty pounds. Beginning first dose of Isis at oh-four fifty-two."

Doctor Aya Akechi sighs and uses the robotic arm to administer the first round of injections. This life is not at all what she expected when HCF approached her in Southern Chile three years ago. The promise of free reign of her own research team, unlimited grant funds, and a facility worthy of a God was too much to pass up, but they left out the parts where her 'team' is a pair of robots, grant money only being given twice a year, and the facility fit for a god, who lived in the fifties….

"At Zero Five Zero Two subject is showing first signs of mutation. Here's hoping we get real results today…" Aya really hopes her research into Isis yields the results she wants: A successful antigen for AIDS..

This version of ISIS will show its results by coloring the target's skin a bright orange. Something deep down within Aya broke long ago, her compassion for using human test subjects. It's weird to her, she thought using live people, with families, would bother her more than this, but it's for the betterment of humanity, right?"

Aya Akechi comes from a well-to-do family in Japan.. Every single member of the Akechi clan is a doctor or scientist. And more often than not, an Akechi is at the front of any radical improvements or discoveries in research.. Aya, being the only redhead in her family, was immediately drawn to Genetics Research, yet never truly got to study it, since AIDS Research is the hot new thing right now.. But her dwelling on the past has to come to an end, as alarms and flat lines fill her office.

"At Zero Five Forty-Five, subject has gone into cardiac arrest, expecting further terminal mutation and destruction in twenty minutes…" another failure…

All of the failures are the same… But Aya has a brilliant idea… Take her love of genetics and find a way to battle AIDS at the Genetic Level. As the robotic arms begin the slow dismantling of the deceased subject, Aya writes, 'Genetic Fusion' at the top of a HCF Letterhead.

_Of all the things I have done… This might be my greatest gift for the world…_ Isle Eras has never seen a mind like Dr. Akechi's..

11

"Oh how I wish I was an Oscar Mayer wiener… Oh that is what I real-" the lock Dusty is picking clicks before he can finish his song.

With a light pull, the heavy wood door is pulled open, granting the S.T.A.R.S. Adviser access to the evidence and weapons locker. His infiltration was rather easy, as most of the doors have either been torn off, smashed, or left unlocked. So far though, he has blown through one clip of handgun rounds, and is almost done with the second. Because of this his mission has expanded to procuring additional firearms to make his mission easier.

_The mission.._ Dusty sighs as he thinks back to the mission parameters.

Secure Communications Room, Retrieve any data on what transpired here, Eliminate any hostiles, and Secure any survivors. No way in hell is all of that possible with just one person.. His seven-man Cell each had a job, one part of the mission they were specifically trained to do. Being one of the few members of S.T.A.R.S. members with a background in Biohazard Situations, Dusty got to sit in on each section of training. He picked up bits and pieces of the basics, so him being the only survivor is a relatively good thing. Inside the small armory, though, this is not a good thing. Dusty finds only one weapon left: Desert Eagle .50AE.

"Figures.." he holds it up and checks the magazine, only three rounds, with nothing else of use in the entire room.

If ever there was a sense of 'oh shit' to a mission, this is it…

11

"Hey Aya! Aya! Are you coming or what!?" the redhead jerks up from her sleep and yawns loudly at her only friend in the facility, Jenn Ninde.

"Hmm? What's going on?" another yawn at the end of the question.

"We need to go, come on, there's been an evacuation issued for all essential personnel. Did you not get the alert?"

"Since when has my research been essential, Jenn? That's why the Director chucked me down here in the 4B lab. Thanks for coming to get me though.." Aya quickly gathers her notes on Genetic Fusion into a metal binder and follows her friend quickly through the lowest level of the Isle Eras facility.

Isle Eras was built as a pretty simple vacation spot for the employees who hate being cooped up in a lab all day. Built on an island in the Southern Pacific, it's a 'Vacation Spot' for HCF lab-rats, those who can't stop working, ever. Instead of walking into a faux-sunlight 'sun-room' for a break, the scientists here can go out, take a swim, sit on the beach and get the beginnings of their first tan. It boosted moral and the success of the experiments here by almost forty-five percent, which in turn has netted HCF a hefty sixty-percent profit increase. But it comes at a price, a big price…

"_Warning. High Tide Incoming. All Essential Personnel must pack up and head for the heliport for immediate evacuation. Warning…_"

Isle Eras is a shallow island, with a maximum height of seven feet above sea level. Normal high tide here is about thirteen feet of extra water. So every four months, HCF ships their workers home, seals the mansion, lab, and appropriate 'Islands', and waits for the high tide to reside. It's a price HCF has to pay in order to maintain a profit and continue takeovers of other Pharmaceutical Companies. They evacuate the island a solid twenty-four hours before the tide rolls in, providing ample time for the Sweeper Crew to come in and procure samples of each 'Island' and its creatures.

Isle Eras is a shining example of this ne- "**All personnel must evacuate to the Helipad now for immediate withdrawal.**" It's a shining example of the new approach Bioweapons Engineers are taking: The Psychological side of BOWs, how they react to multiples of the same type, pack-mentality, territory disputes, and hunting strategies. Studying these, then comparing that to the placement of certain genes in their DNA strand, will allow HCF to completely bio-engineer, no… HCF will _grow_ BOWs…

"Aya? COME ON!" Jenn is holding the elevator open, much to the anger of the people inside.

The Asian woman calculates the average weight of everyone inside, then pulls her friend out, "No, we'll take the stairs, girl.. Say a prayer for them."

As the elevator takes off, the duo quickly begin ascending the seven flights of stairs to reach the lobby, "**As a result of the evacuation alert, all non-essential exit points have been unlocked. All essential personnel must reach the Helipad for evacuation. High Tide Imminent.**"

_God help me…_

11

"You know, every time I get into one of these situations, somehow, I wake up either strapped to a table or locked in a lab… You must be Dr…?"

Dusty frowns at his situation, the poor man is completely delusional, "I'm not.. I'm actually S.T.A.R.S. Operative Dusty Stracener."

The man laughs loudly and scoffs so hard spit dribbles down his face, "Don't play me! I know every member of the Service.. And you, my Umbrella Friend, are not on the roster!"

"Actually, I am an Adviser brought in while the Redfields are out in Northern Europe."

"If you know that… I have to warn them! I have to let them know Umbrella is aware of their locations!"

No use trying to reason with the man… Dusty sighs and walks out, but suddenly an explosion rocks the S.T.A.R.S. facility, slamming the operative into the wall, rendering him almost unconscious upon impact.

As his world starts to fade to that typical black, three figures stand around him, one speaking immediately, "Take him to the Isle Eras Facility.. We can have some more fun with him there…"

11

"**Warning, Unauthorized Supply Drop Detected in Quadrant Two of the Wilderness Sector. Warning…**" the alert continues to drone on.

"Oh what are they dropping now!?" Jenn growls as the duo keeps ascending stairs.

Aya stops as her ears pick up a single snap muffled by the thick wall insulation, "GET DOWN!"

Both women drop as a loud screech fills the stairwell, then one of the heavy steel cables is tearing through the drywall. The cord nearly slices both women in half, the elevator finally slamming into the bottom of the shaft some time later. Jenn stands up on shaky legs, clearing the dust and debris from her strawberry blonde hair. Aya pats her on the back and quickly continues pushing her up the stairs. As the floor numbers change from lower Basement levels to just before the main floor, several more elevators crash and tumble around the female duo.

"My god, this place is falling apart…" the words fly breathlessly from Jenn's lips as they round the last several steps to the ground floor.

"Does that," the door is shoved open and the patter of helicopter blades soothes their nerves, "really surprise you, Jenn? Come on, we're almost there!"

Both women start a blind charge for the transport, two men holding hands out to help them in. Jenn is pulled in quickly, but the hand waiting for the shorter of the two is pulled back, the Commander of the base, Thomas Weidick, staring down at her.

"Essential Personnel only…" his smirk is sick as he kicks her in the chest, sending her flying back farther than a kick really should.

As Aya slams into the wall of the mansion, her steel folder flips through the air, Jenn grasping it as Thomas pulls her back in, "Got it! Sorry Aya!"

11

"Oh dear lord, my head…" Dusty groans as he comes to in the middle of a clean dirt road.

Birds call off in the distance, something screeches nearby, typical forest… He checks for his guns, only finding his M93R. Another fantastic day this will be, that's for sure… As the magazine is ejected, the brunette curses whoever his captors are for not reloading his gun.

"Seven rounds.. Nice.." the clip is slapped back into the grip as black boots slam into the pressed dirt pathway.

Dusty slowly strolls down the only road before him, but a smell so familiar to him wafts through the air, "Decaying flesh…"

His footsteps pick up in pace, his hands already sweating in anticipation and fear, the gun is tracked downward in case of a friendly. But he is wrong, horribly wrong, as the scene is nothing short of a grisly, almost bear-like mauling.. Tatters of flesh and leather line the road and adjacent trees and shrubbery, blood dripping from the overhanging branches, almost like rain.. Dusty hasn't seen anything this nauseating since he watched that New Nemesis tear Drew in half..

"What.. What the hell?" shining in the scene like a beacon from hell is a nice, new, albeit blood-covered M79 grenade launcher.

Gloved fingers snake around the stock of the weapon, the weight familiar, happy, and secure. After doing a little grave-digging, the remnants of the body are buried, and Dusty now has himself a new weapon and eight rounds for it. The brunette smiles and slowly starts his trek down the path, a sound of a dull hum pattering over the tree tops.

"I've heard this sound before…"

**END!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Resident Evil: Fate Can't Escape Destiny**

Sure enough, the closer Dusty gets, the more familiar the sound becomes, changing from a dull hum to a loud roar of screams and helicopter blades. Dusty storms through a line of trees and brush, his face covered in bright light as he watches hundreds of people fight for what appears to be a very select number of seats on the transport helicopters. One chopper takes off, with scientists, workers, and civilians all hanging on for dear life to the landing bars.

As Dusty watches the scene in horror, a loud voice filters over the crowd, "Everyone needs to stop and calm down now.. NOW!"

Silence covers the immediate vicinity, but is cut by another, completely haunting voice from Dusty's past, "Do it.."

The transport choppers take off, while three gunships slowly rise over the mansion, their gatling guns already starting to wind up. All of the people before him are stunned, but slowly, a couple people at first, then more, begin to move away, cutting through the crowd. Suddenly more screams fill the air as a mass exodus of the open clearing begins. Dusty holds up his hands and starts guiding as many people as he can into the forestry. They begin filing past him as gunshots echo around the area, dirt and grass offering a decent cover so far.

"Hurry! They'll open fire again in a few seconds!" he ushers more and more past him.

As the last few are able to snake through the trees, Dusty pulls out the M79 and chambers a shell, snapping the barrel shut in anticipation. He flips the sight up and aims for the front of the closest gunship. As the dirt finally scatters from the force of the propellers, he squeezes the trigger and smiles as the first chopper detonates in a fiery ball of fuel and explosives. The two remaining quickly rotate toward him, but as their high-powered lights illuminate the area, there is no sign of him.

_Oh god, why did I do that?_ Dusty reloads the grenade launcher and hugs the marble entrance platform of the mansion.

As he contemplates his next move, he hears a female voice from above him, "HEY! HEY! Let me on! I'm a researcher here! HCF ID NUMBER AKECHI ECHO SEVEN!"

"Get down!" he jumps up to save her, but stops as she turns to him.

_I… Um… My god…_ She is absolutely stunning. No one this gorgeous should work for a company like HCF!

She frowns and ducks as gunfire erupts around her, the bullets doing their customary misses before finally zoning in on their target. Dusty growls and pushes off the edge of the entrance, running between bullets, weaving and bobbing out of their path as he dives for the woman, his arms wrapping around her waist and pulling her with him as he falls over the other side of the platform. Gunfire dots the air above them as Dusty pulls her head down, their bodies hugging the dirt and marble for dear life.

"Ah, Dusty.. Seems you finally made it. Come out and show me that ugly mug!" _Thomas…_

Of all the times and places for that bastard to show up alive.. Why here and why now? Dusty could've sworn that man died in Riley. The brunette stands up, one hand on the stock of the M79 as he swings around to face the hovering helicopter. Sure enough, as the door slides open, there stands the devil himself. Thomas looks smug as ever standing there with an M4 resting in his crossed arms.

"So, you survived Riley after all?" Dusty calls out over the pattering blades and swirling dust.

A laugh, loud as a banshee scream, "There is nothing in this world that can kill me, Dusty! Nothing! Give up and let me kill you both!"

"What's my alternative?" the launcher is slowly pulled up.

"You," the door is slowly pulled shut, then his voice filters from a speaker, "don't want to do that!"

Dusty fires the M79 and runs back toward the entrance, dragging the woman with him as they disappear into the forest. They run for a few minutes, finally stopping as they reach a large steel and concrete structure. He slides down the wall and takes a seat, then reloads the grenade launcher.

"Who are you? Why did they try to kill me? What is your connection to HCF and Director Weidick!?" the redheaded Asian woman pokes her finger into his chest one too many times.

"Um, darlin', if you don't want to lose that finger, I highly suggest you remove it from my ribs.." he stands up, his full height towering over her 5'4" frame.

She huffs and crosses her arms, "Do not call me that.. I am no one's 'darling'…"

"I didn't call you 'darling'.. I said darlin', ma'am. Big difference."

She laughs, causing his right eyebrow to arch upwards, "What?"

The woman just shakes her head, "Next you'll tell me you're a Southern Gentleman.."

A sigh, "Well I am a southern boy, and I have manners.. What about you, Chuckles?"

"Name is Dr. Aya Akechi. You, sir?"

"S.T.A.R.S. Operative Dusty Stracener, nice to meet you."

"What does S.T.A.R.S. want with HCF?" Aya sits down next to him, still a little anxious apparently.

He smiles and rests his head on the concrete wall, "Well I have a personal tie to Thomas. He-" she cuts him off.

"Director Weidick? What did he do to you?"

"Well I kinda, sorta, not really, killed him back in Riley, Ohio. I think it was four years ago. Apparently Riley was an experiment conducted by Umbrella, to test a new virus.. The bio-hazard went much like Raccoon Cit-" she cuts him off, again..

"Umbrella had nothing to d-" he fires back to stop her.

"Don't you dare say that to me. What do you think you and the others were working on here?" his eyes cut deep into hers.

"A cure for AIDS," she actually seems genuinely proud of that.

Dusty stands up and opens the PDA, "Is this how some of your tests end up?" the photo is of a zombie, stage four Decay.

"Mmhmm, the compound exponentially increased the cellular decay."

"You are so naive… They had you working on a reformed T-Virus.. HCF wanted to find a way to create a super-soldier without them becoming a zombie…" she still looks confused.

He growls and snaps, "They weren't dying… They were turning.. You took someone with what? Sixteen years or more to live, and you killed them!"

11

"Fuck you!" Aya has had enough of this man's slander against her work.

Dusty is apparently put off by the phrase, as he turns away and starts looking at the building, "My work is for the betterment of humanity.. I am so close to a cure for AIDS now… I can save the planet."

"Know why you were left here and almost killed?" his words cut deep, "They don't want to cure anything, save anyone… There has been sixteen people in the past two decades who have designed a cure for cancer.. You know what Umbrella and HCF did to them?"

Aya doesn't want to admit that she knows, so she doesn't, "They were caught in a power struggle between medical giants…?"

"Don't" he stands in her face, towering over her, "you ever knowingly lie to me again, you won't like me."

She has to admit, he's actually kinda scary this close, "Fine! Umbrella killed some and burned their work.. HCF…"

"Finish it."

"HCF turned their work into a propaganda machine, twisting the data to show higher fatality rates, lower successes… Even going so far as to steal the samples and replacing them with biological and chemical weapons," it turns her stomach to admit this to him.

"Now we can get somewhere.. Here, can you open this?"

Aya stares at the keypad with optional card reader, "If they didn't set off the High Tide alert, yes.. Now? It'll take me a minute to run numbers."

"You're a numbers person eh?" not the time for small talk, as Aya is already going over probable codes.

Most keypads use a ten-digit stream, Repeat-Capable. That means… _Ten Billion codes?_ That can't be right, so Aya settles for swiping Dusty's PDA. The stylus is wired to the device, but not anymore, she now has the wire split and running from the AUX port and attached to her ID card magnetic strip. With a quick swipe and a DOS prompt, the PDA itself is now running numbers. Several tense moments later, the door clicks and they now have access.

Aya reaches for the handle, but he stops her, "You know what's in there?"

"No…" for the first time, Aya realizes she knows almost nothing about what really goes on here. "I know it's called an Island. There are four of them, each one houses specific types of BOW. Anywhere from three genus to seven. I am not sure what each Island contains.."

"We were in the process of studying behavior and psychology, bu-" he cuts her off.

"They're not animals. They are mindless killing machines. I have witnessed Lickers and Hunters tear their own kind apart. They have no loyalties.. I've seen things that could fill volumes of biological books.. All of which will disprove any theories you might have."

His words cut deep again, "I think we were reall-" again with the fucking cut-offs!

"Doing some good? Yeah, right. And I'm some gun-loving, bible-thumping nut job…"

"Well, you are shooting shit up like hell…" she smirks as she sees his skin crawl.

"God abandoned this world a long time ago. Back in the mid-sixties if you believe the Redfield Report."

"Like I believe that shit.." Aya huffs and crosses her arms.

"Look, woman!" he punches the wall next to her face. "They just tried to kill you! You don't want to believe anything I've been telling you!? You're LIVING IT!"

He's right, again.. Everything… Aya has tried to ignore it, but it's all in front of her face.. She has had a hand in the atrocity here, and now, her research is over.. And her new proposal is in the hands of what was her best friend... And now, after it's all said and done, she has been saved by an enemy of her company.. This is just the most backwards day ever for Aya Akechi.

"What do we do now..? …What are you doing?" she gasps as Dusty is busy pressing keys on his PDA, still hooked into the keypad.

11

"I'm hacking into the camera mainframe for this 'Island' as you call it. I want to know what is happening in here."

Dusty continues navigating the files, hoping to find what he's looking for. While staying at the S.T.A.R.S. base, Leon gave him basic computer hacking lessons. Granted it was nothing compared to what Aya did just a few minutes ago, but it's helped him prepare for what lies ahead. Another click and the cameras are now on the seven-inch screen.

"Okay, it's a mountain like area.." a second click, "River, trees, rocky terrain.. What the hell? Is that a llama!?"

Aya reaches down a pulls the screen up to her, "Project 9F. Spitter. Our main goal here was developing BOW without visible mutation. And it's actually more of a.. Wooly Ostrich?"

"You wanted to hide the fact it was infected, so you made an entirely new species? Subtle…"

"We were moving in the right direction. Judging from the terrain, we'll have Spitters, Behemoths, and Geckos."

"Behemoths and Geckos?" Dusty has to admit, their names are a bit better than Umbrella's..

"Behemoths are mutated Gorillas.. Think, Solomon Grundy.. Larger than normal, as strong as six Silverbacks, and as aggressive as twelve of them…"

She holds up a hand to stop the oncoming joke, "The Geckos are a new climbing BOW, reminiscent of the Lickers, and yes, we have those here too in another Island probably. The Geckos have acid-filled pads that melt a foothold into any surface capable of supporting its weight."

Dusty scribbles a note into his arm with a pen, "Spitters… Shoot in neck.. Behemoths.. Grenade to face…" he looks up, "What? I have to kill them. Geckos, shoot at pads on paws.."

With that, Dusty raises the M79 and pushes the door open. A gust of wind screams past them, birds chirping off in the distance. A loud sound, like someone clearing their throat fills the air, then the chirping stops.

The brunette turns to his auburn-haired companion, "Exactly what does a Spitter do?"

"It immobilizes and digests its prey with an acidic neuro-toxin fired from valves inside the mouth."

"Great, it spits stomach acid…" this is shaping up to be such a fantastic day!

For the first time today, Dusty is second-guessing himself. But that needs to be put on the back burner. Just like back in Riley, where the city itself was the weapon against the Outbreak, these Islands must have something to destroy the creatures within. It's probably nothing in the realm of the Tactical Nuke that rested below Riley City Hall, but Dusty is positive it's either a pile of explosives or P-Epsilon Anti-BOW compound. Before they can move any farther into the Island, a Spitter clambers over the river-bank.

"Gross…" apparently their plan to keep the BOW discreet failed, as the acidic neuro-toxin has started to eat away at the animal's face.

There is good news here however, Aya is right, Spitters look like Ostriches, without wings, and covered in fur. What was once pristine white fur is now every shade from yellow to black, depending on how close to the acid-dripping maw it is. Smoke lightly billows from a few rotting teeth, their square tops now jagged and bloody. As the monster begins to suck air into a large red flesh sack on its neck, that familiar sound reaches them.

"Get down!" Dusty turns to push Aya to safety, but before he can get down as well, steam and smoke are flowing around him.

The soldier tears his red hoodie off and spins around, his M93R poised and ready to fire on the attacking creature. His eyes adjust down, the gun following suit before the trigger is squeezed and the weapon sends a copper round flying down-range. As the Spitter prepares another salvo, the bulge on its neck growing larger by the second, a screech fills the Island as the round connects. Orange fluid explodes into the air, a sizzling sound forces the duo to cover their ears, and in a cloud of smoke, the charred bones of the Spitter clatter to the burning dirt.

Dusty slides the weapon back into the holster and sighs, "That's six..."

"Six what?" Aya slowly rises from the ground he pushed her to, swiping the dust from her lab coat as an eyebrow arches at the brunette before her.

"Six rounds left for this gun... Then I'm stuck with the six shells for the M79. I'm gonna have to find more ammunition before we go much farther..." Dusty slowly runs a finger along the barrel of the grenade launcher as he pulls it out and prepares the sight for aiming.

A feeling of dread washes over him, making him wonder why he is here, but all of that gets pushed aside rather quickly as a tree is promptly uprooted and thrown at the man and woman invaders. Dusty drags Aya into the forest, dodging trees and stray branches as heavy footsteps pound the dirt behind him. His eyes ever forward, mind already planning an escape, Dusty almost runs into what appears to be a swollen dog-paw. He rolls under it, but Aya isn't so lucky, her lab coat sizzling immediately upon contact. The garment is discarded as the Gecko makes its first appearance, its eyeless face staring directly at the brunette soldier.

"Can they see us?" Dusty pulls out the handgun and slowly pulls back the hammer.

Red locks are thrown around as Aya shakes her head, "Not that I can recall. From the report the only real sense they have left is taste.. Their pads react much like our taste buds, picking what it wants from the taste of the air nearby..."

"Then we need to move, cause it found m- WWWAAAHH!" Dusty jumps back as the beast pounces toward him, swatting the air, tasting for him.

His gun fires, the round digging into the soft flesh of the shoulder, prompting the animal to slash at the direction of his shot, missing Dusty by inches. The paw keeps swinging around, slamming into another tree, the plant burning and snapping in half from contact with the acid. Dusty prepares another round, but everything is darkened as a Behemoth parts the trees around them. She wasn't kidding, the monster is huge, skin gray and cracking all over, blood having dried on the crevices long ago. It roars loudly at them, its nose flexing at the scent of fresh meat, muscles contracting in nearly uncontrolled hunger for the duo.

11

Aya grabs the taller male and drags him with her toward the large metal doors off in the distance, "COME ON!"

_What am I doing? _Aya can't grasp why she is saving him, it would be so easy to leave him to die, let the Behemoth kill him with one swoop.

Her green eyes flash as she already knows the answer, she can't be as cold-hearted as HCF wants her to be, she cares too much about the people around her. Aya has always had a caring heart, but even that is being tested as Spitters lob acid at them, Geckos try and trap them with their paws, and Behemoths trying to squash them. Dusty breaks her grip, yells something about meeting back up at the door, then she feels the weight of the PDA in her back pocket. He wants her to open the door while he buys her the time she needs, easier said than done. Aya drops under a low branch, grimaces as a Gecko jumps over it and lashes out at her, then she spins around, her back to the large metal door leading to the Island-Specific Lab.

_Where is the card reader!?_ Kiwi-colored eyes scan the wall for the requested artifact, but that has to be put on hold as a Gecko corners her.

It swipes the air, getting her scent, its useless nostrils flaring as it keys in to her location. Slowly it creeps toward her, walking like a lion ready to snack, its paws burning footholds in the ground. Suddenly the beast stops, twisting each paw, burning deeper ruts in the ground as it slowly lowers into a crouch, poised perfectly for a run. Its ass end raises into the air as the chest lowers so much to touch the ground. Jagged teeth clatter together as the Gecko snaps at her, then it pushes into the air, running at its top speed, hell-bent on making the Asian scientist a snack.

Aya closes her eyes and prepares to jump out of the way, but an explosion off to her left demands her attention, "Nanja korya!?" (What the hell is this?)

Before the Gecko reaches her, something large cuts through the forest and slams through it, spewing blood and body parts into the false sky. As the attacker slams into the nearby wall, Aya gets a good look at the scenario. Its a Behemoth, with the face horribly burnt and mutilated. On its back is Dusty, using his M79 to 'steer' the monster where he wants it to go.

The chocolate-haired male drops down from the beast as it has become stuck in the metal wall, punching the steel useless in rage, "Well, get the door open yet?"

_What a strange man..._

**END**


	3. Chapter 3

**Resident Evil: Fate Can't Escape Destiny**

Dusty walks up to Aya and motions toward the door, "How are we getting in?"

The Behemoth he stuck in the wall roars loudly and pushes off, its hands crunching the steel easily. Brown eyes shift to the left side of his peripheral vision, fingers grasping at the M93R as the beast takes off in a sprint. Footsteps pound into the dirt and grass, but in the opposite direction of the two humans. Dusty turns around and gazes as the Behemoth takes off into the forest, hopefully never to be seen again as Aya works on opening the door.

_Why haven't I killed her? She's HCF and needs to die.._ Dusty leans against the door as the redheaded Asian woman he saved works at opening the door.

He already knows the reason, even though she works for the enemy, he can't really take a life. Zombies are easy, people are harder for the cop, even when their sins are numerous. If Dusty had his way, he'd be back home in Arkansas, living out his days with the woman of his dreams, raising kids, doing the family-thing. Instead, he's fighting a couple of global companies hell-bent on destroying humanity for profit. HCF is just as bad as Umbrella, possibly worse, but intelligence on HCF is sketchy at best, nonexistent at worst. The most S.T.A.R.S. knows about HCF is that Wesker works for them, they are responsible for the outbreak at Rockfort Island, and seem to have a personal vendetta against Umbrella.

"So what were you?" her voice shakes him from his thoughts.

"Beg pardon?" the Southern accent is heavy.

She smiles and looks back at him, "What did you do before Umbrella ruined your life?"

"Was a cop in Riley, Ohio. A lab they built leaked the T-Virus into the city, as a testing ground for their new Nemesis Variants. Was one of the unlucky few to be left alive... Worked with other people who fought against Umbrella to escape and survive, but seems we created a bigger threat in the process."

"Director Weidick?"

He nods, fingers clenching at the sound of that name, "Yes. He was infected with a mutating G-Virus from the Nemesis Variant, which apparently bonded with his DNA, turning him into what the Redfield Reports say Wesker is like. He turned on Umbrella, apparently joining HCF in the process... I will kill him, ending the Riley Nightmare for good.."

11

_He's so determined..._ Aya continues working on hacking the bio-hazard door blocking the Island from the Lab.

Dusty is a very strange man, almost like two different people, she's never really met anyone like him. It makes her wonder if everyone who survives bio-outbreaks are like this? She can't focus on that now as the PDA blinks again in a denying tone, not letting the redhead in. She curses in Japanese, tries a different sequence of key presses as a loud crash erupts from pretty much everywhere. Aya blinks and regains her focus, letting Dusty go off to see what the issue is.

"You better get this door open soon..." the voice is far off, but still recognizable.

"Why is that?" Aya slides her card again and enters another strand of presses.

An explosion rocks the ground as Dusty backs up into her, almost tripping over the lithe Asian woman, "Because he brought friends..."

She risks a look back, immediately wishing she had not done so as she stares at the seven Behemoths walking toward them, one still smoldering from the grenade to the face. Dusty taps her on the back, making her return to the computer in her hand as she listens to her companion reload the M79 and snap the barrel shut. Her fingers fly across the miniature keyboard as sounds of battle wage outside her field of vision. Another string of keys, another denying beep, and another explosion, but not the same one that normally comes from the M79.

This demands attention, "What was that?"

A laugh greets her before, "A Behemoth just stomped on a Spitter, pressure must have grown too massive and exploded."

Glowing green eyes whip around to witness the scene of carnage, the images of a melting Behemoth forever burned into her eyes, "Almost there I think!"

11

_Keep going... This isn't going to end well if you don't..._ Dusty slides behind a tree as another Behemoth grabs a Gecko and uses it as a bat.

Each smack of the body against something sends acid into the air, rapidly decreasing the amount of objects to hide behind.. Dusty kicks off the tree and rolls through a bush as the monster takes another swing at him. He resists the urge to make a bad baseball joke and clambers to his feet, running toward Aya as he notices the door slowly opening. As the door inches slowly upward, he grabs Aya by her waist again, drops to his back, and both of them slide underneath, his free hand pulling the M93R from the holster and unloading a bullet into the control mechanism.

With a spark, a groan, and a snap, the door slams down on the extended arm of a Behemoth, severing the appendage off neatly at the elbow, "Well, that was fun..."

He catches Aya's look of disbelief, "What? You didn't find that entertaining?"

"Do you think it's cheating if I count the Gecko the Behemoth used as a weapon as a kill for my score?" he etches several marks into the barrel of the M79.

"I.. No... What?"

He laughs and shrugs, "Those of us in S.T.A.R.S. have a running competition for most points. I'm a little behind and could use a little help, albeit a little illegal."

"You people are fucking crazy..." Aya huffs at him and stands up, looking down at the detached arm still pouring blood onto the floor.

"So where are we now, exactly?" Dusty runs his hand over the plaque labeled 'Serenity'.

Aya stands next to him and smirks, "This is the Island-Specific Lab for Serenity. In here is all the equipment, tools, and data needed to maintain and research the BOW contained within. Each Island has its own lab, as each Island requires specific equipment for the different bio-weapons they house."

"If this is Serenity, what are the other three called? And what can we expect in each?" the brunette has taken to doing a quick ammo check as he awaits her answer.

11

_Crap, now I got to think..._ Aya quickly works to gather the info her counterpart requested.

"Island One is Riparian, a lake-based area. It houses most of our aquatic bio-ware. In there you will find the Hunter-Betas reported from the Raccoon Incident. As well as our own creations the Mizu."

"I see you guys go after relatively Japanese names for your projects. Differentiating yourselves from Umbrella and their Roman names?" the sarcasm is evident in his voice.

"Whatever.. The biggest thing to watch out for is what the researchers for Riparian have lovingly called the Abyss. The few reports that trickle in from that Island about Abyss have only been size-measurements. I can't make any sense of it, they use water measurements in the Acre-Foot increment..."

She watches as his ears perk and he turns to look at her, "What was the last report?"

"Last report stated Abyss was closing in on the one acre-foot mark... What does that mean?"

Dusty rubs his eyes and blinks before answering, "It means the beast is close to forty-four thousand square-feet in size..."

Aya drops the PDA in surprise and disgust, "How is that possible? Most of our research put a maximum size for the stability of BOW at about fourteen feet tall and a weight of just over a ton..."

"Seems Isis is more powerful than anything Umbrella ever came up with... Any info you can give me on the Mizu?" Dusty begins chambering his last five rounds into the magazine for his handgun.

"Not much really, they are basically mutated Manta Rays.. Incredibly fast since they are at the most only six inches thick at the spine..." Aya finally realizes she has retained a lot more info about the state of the island than she thought before Director Weidick threw her into the basement to rot.

The click of the magazine being slid into the handgun draws her attention to the larger man she's been talking to for the last few minutes, "The other Islands?"

Aya begins to pull up the necessary information from her memory, but a loud noise from the other end of the hallway before them interrupts the conversation. Dusty whistles lightly to grab her attention, then tosses her his M93R, the gun heavier than it looks. He points to his eyes, then down the hall before slowly moving to the edge of the wall, his face barely poking out from behind it. A gunshot rings out, the brunette ducking in before it can do any damage, then he motions for Aya to step forward.

"You ever shot one before?" his voice is hushed, trying not to draw the attention of the gunman up ahead.

Aya nods slowly, "We're all required to take basic firearms training... Never shot at someone before."

"Don't look them in the eyes," he stares into her eyes, "don't ever look your target in the eyes..."

She nods slowly and raises the weapon up, ready to aim at his call, "You trust me?"

His words catch her off guard as another gunshot digs into the wall in front of them. Does she trust him? Aya's mind weighs her options, the pros and cons, but this isn't something to be trusted to facts and tables, this is a feeling from the heart. Her eyes lock with his, the question still rolling off his mouth as he repeats it.

Aya makes a great decision right here, "I do."

He smiles and looks around the corner before ducking back, "Good, then we'll survive this yet!"

11

_I can't believe it, she actually trusts me..._ Dusty holds up a hand, causing the redhead across from him to raise the weapon anxiously, awaiting his order.

"Remember, breathe slowly, exhale on the squeeze... Aim straight, I'll distract him..."

Before she can retort, he dives down the hall, screaming loudly at the unseen enemy. The brunette has a silent victory for himself as the man looks at him, gun tracking in his direction before a gunshot sounds off. Dusty dives behind a table and checks himself for wounds, realizing the gunshot didn't come from their enemy, but Aya herself. Brown eyes gaze upon where the man was once standing, finding him instead situated against the wall, holding a bleeding shoulder.

_She's a better shot than she realizes..._ Dusty walks up to the man, aims the M79 at his chest, and clears his throat.

"Who are you?" at the sound of his voice, the man begins looking around frantically, mouth quivering, gibberish flying from dry lips.

Another several seconds of this and Dusty has had enough, so he pushes the man to the floor and squats over his chest, leaning closer in and speaking again, "Who.. Are... You...?"

"It's out..."

"What's out?"

Pin-sized pupils gaze up into Dusty's soul as the man has a second of clarity, "T..."

Dusty stumbles back at the mention of the virus that brought him into this mess, changed his life forever. Zombies, Lickers, Hunters, all looking hungrily at him flash through his mind as he recovers, stepping on the man's chest to keep him from moving. He attempts to get more information out of the apparent scientist, but that is immediately halted as a shuffling sound emits from the corner farther down the hall.

"Aya... Come down here please..." Dusty doesn't want to risk compromising the integrity of the building with an explosion.

When the Asian woman rejoins him, he slowly takes the handgun from her shaking fingers, aiming it at the sound as his friend begins assessing the man's wounds underneath him. Dusty's feet are heavy as he steps toward the sound, reeling back in disgust as the first zombie of the night arrives. The zombies here look just the same as they did three years ago in Riley, smell the same too.

_How long ago was it released? This one is about to fall apart..._

Aya beats him to it as she presses a hand to the bleeding wound harder than she needs to, causing the man to scream and return to reality, "How long ago was T released?"

"About three hours ago..." his fading fast, but this is useful information.

Three hours ago places it at around the time that Thomas started firing on the scientists gathered outside the mansion. Either part of the attack ruptured something in the lab under the island, or Thomas released it on purpose. Did Thomas expect Dusty to be here? Set up a game for him? These questions will remain unanswered for now as he looks at the zombie still shuffling toward him. The Beretta in his hand is raised up, sight dots positioned perfectly for a head-shot, then the trigger is squeezed silently. The explosion of the round is loud, the death of the zombie is not, the creature hitting the ground without so much as a splat.

"How many scientists were left in the Islands?"

11

Aya's mind is racing at seeing the zombie, it looks just like the man she was testing her new serum variant of Isis on earlier this morning. Dusty was right, she was only making a better virus, one to top Umbrella's own T and G. She doesn't even hear the question asked of her, nor the second or third time, her gaze just locked on the dead zombie.

Suddenly she is picked up from the floor, Dusty looking into her eyes, bringing her back to the here and now, "How many scientists stay behind in the Islands?"

"Um... Seventeen per Island... Even though each Island has its own lab, they're all connected by service tunnels. During High Tide they..."

"Unlock the doors so the doctors can travel freely between Islands without drowning outside... So, we have sixty-eight," he gazes at the two bodies in front of him, "sixty-six zombies to deal with, plus whoever ran inside the mansion, assuming it's connected to this system as well?"

Aya nods, "It's the central hub... Connected by a sort of forward elevator..."

Dusty holds up a hand, "I hate elevators.."

She arches an eyebrow at this, "Someone who can do what you do, afraid of elevators?"

"You ever fallen in one? It's not a fun time, trust me..." his voice is a little shaky, but she doesn't pry.

"Can I ask you a question?" her voice is small as the brunette examines the zombie before them.

"Sure," he never looks at her, it's for the best she thinks.

Green eyes rest on the scientist behind her, trying to remember his name, "Did I kill him?"

"What? No, you didn't," his words don't really wipe the worry away.

Aya stares at the gun in Dusty's hands, her mind replaying what happened a few minutes ago. She only wounded him, did the shock afterward do him in? He was conscious right before the zombie appeared, then gone in the time it took her friend to kill it. Did Aya Akechi kill this man? She dreads the change happening within her own body, not wanting to have to deal with this every time they need to defend themselves. Her eyes raise up to look at Dusty, he kills them so effortlessly, he must have done it so many times in Riley.. She heard reports about what happened there, how something contaminated the water supply, making all the residents crazed and cannibalistic. It was such a lie, they all knew, but no one questioned it, was not what they were paid to do.

"Will I still be me?"

11

"Will I still be me?" the words snap Dusty back to the present.

He asked himself that after Riley, when the pain wouldn't go away. Claire and Leon offered words of wisdom, caring advice, but he remembers the talk they had. They both talked about how hard it was to continue to live a normal life after experiencing what they did, what he did. The only ones who truly carried on were Chris and Jill, who were busy taking it to Umbrella's backside with a ton of firepower. Is that how he is going to have to live, going after Umbrella and others like them? Will Aya be able to go on, knowing what she has helped create?

_What do I care? Her work is going to create more suffering anyway, she should suffer herself..._ Dusty thinks it, but doesn't believe a word of it.

"I can't really answer that, you can try, but it depends on how much blame you place on yourself... One day at a time, you'll find your answer soon enough.."

"Blame I place on myself?" of course she focuses on that part of the entire reply...

He shakes his head placing a hand on her shoulder, "Don't focus on the blame, if there even is any... We have to survive.. No matter what.. HCF is the monster here.. Not you, not me, not the zombies we will be facing.."

She puts a small smile on, not fooling Dusty for a second, so he smiles at her, a genuine smile, "Wh... What?"

"One last piece of advice?"

"Sure?" her voice is curious.

"Don't think of the zombies as old friends or people you knew.. It makes it harder..."

She smirks back, "Then you better keep the gun..."

He laughs quickly, liking her quick replies as his fingers rifle through the dead scientist's pockets, pulling out an extra clip he can milk the rounds from. The spare handgun is tucked into his belt, safety engaged, round not chambered. With the four rounds in the M93R as well, Dusty and Aya now have a count of thirty-two handgun rounds and four grenades for the M79.

"What kind of handgun did he have?"

Dusty looks down at it, smiling faintly, "A BU9 Nano by Beretta, personal defense really."

11

The room is bland by all standards, design, furnishing, technological, even mechanical, the four walls only being covered in a single set of monitors, images from the entire island flashing over the LCD screens. In the lone chair rests a single man, hair slicked back, eyes focused on the only monitor showing movement, the machine gun resting in his lap as a finger traces the HCF logo engraved into the plastic stock. The monitor shows a man he has come to hate looting a body of a scientist that died moments earlier. The same finger that was tracing circles now flicks a switch on the controller attached to the chair, the monitor switching to a shot showing a room full of infected shambling about. The map to the left, barely illuminated by the light of the monitors shows that room to be only a couple of turns away from the position of the brunette and redhead he has been watching for the past hour or so.

"I'll have to wear you down first, deplete your ammo with these lovely toys before I come after you myself, Dusty..." Thomas sighs and taps the monitor back to the image of his hated foe.

Dusty got the upper-hand against him in Riley, using Twist itself as a weapon to knock the two of them off the rail and into the pit of molten steel. Thomas barely managed to jump off of Twist's burning body to safety before the BOW was devoured by the orange metal in the vat. Thomas still burns with the rage of them escaping, himself almost being caught in the nuclear explosion that leveled Riley and destroyed any evidence of Umbrella's involvement or the Bio-hazard Outbreak that occurred there. Soon after, Thomas joined HCF, which has been seeing steady increase in profits since they first made themselves known to the world at Rockfort Island. From there Thomas used the virus in his blood to become the Director at Isle Eras, turning his blood into Isis. The promise of the virus was enough for HCF, giving the mutant full control of the island and everyone on it.

The silver clipboard on the table to the left of him set today's events in motion. He overheard Dr. Akechi's verbal notes on the genetic application of Isis, using nano-machines to tweak the DNA to cure innumerable ailments and diseases. The thought was too much to let go unnoticed, so he used the only person she trusted to get the data from her.. With this, Thomas can develop a new virus, possibly the greatest threat the world will ever see. He smiles lightly, knowing that his enemy is keeping alive someone who helped create the greatest viral compound since the T-Virus... A flash on the screen draws his attention back to the scene before him, Dusty and Aya now approaching the room where the zombies await to devour them completely.

"Have fun..." his finger taps in the key sequence to open the door, hoping they take the bait...

11

"Get back," Dusty presses his hand into Aya's stomach, pushing her back lightly as the door to his left opens up, the sounds of dozens of undead leaking from inside.

His eyes slowly adjust to the darkness within, seeing heads shamble about the way the infected do, his ears picking up the sounds of them knocking over objects and other zombies. He opts to push her past it all, but something inside grabs his attention, the silver case barely reflecting the minimum amount of light inside.

"Is that a weapon case?" Aya's voice is tiny compared to the roar of the undead in front of him.

Dusty shrugs, "Possibly, could be empty... Could hold a nice little surprise... It's a trap, has to be."

"We should go for it..." he hates it when people say that.

"Not going to do it, it's what whoever is controlling this place wants us to do."

Before Aya can say another word, Dusty slides the door back down, ignoring what could be a shotgun or machine gun lost in the sea of undeath. Another few footsteps and another door flies open, leading into the same room. This one was booby-trapped though, a zombie that was leaning against it falling out. Dusty can't kill it fast enough, the moan that leaves its lips for his flesh grabbing the attention of the others behind it. Slowly they turn toward the two humans, broken bones snapping more, skin tearing, hands stretching toward them as the stench becomes too much. The brunette grabs the door to pull it down, but it won't budge, the controls overridden by the master of the mansion.

"Shit, Aya, run!" Dusty pulls out his M93R, backing up quickly as the zombies crawl out of the doorway and into the hallway currently occupied by the living.

The duo reach a set of stairs leading up to the surface, Dusty unable to focus on whether it leads to the mansion or one of the Islands, his finger squeezing the trigger, dropping a zombie perfectly, the others tumbling over it to get at them. Ammunition conservation, key to survival. As Dusty turns from the undead following he has gathered to ascend the stairs, Aya calls out in pain before falling down. Dusty reaches out to grab her and picks the lithe woman up quickly, kicking a zombie that got a little too close for comfort. Aya regains her balance and continues up, rounding the corner effortlessly, giving Dusty ample space to take the stairs two at a time, gaining on her as they reach the door at the top.

Dusty spins around and pulls up the M93R, aiming the weapon at whatever might make its way up the stairs, "Get it open, now!"

Aya holds the PDA up to him, the device cracked into four pieces, "From my fall.."

"God damn it! Get down to the next level of stairs, take this, aim for the head," he pushes the Nano into her hands and turns to face the door, a spare grenade already being slid from the strap around his body.

Dusty pries the explosive from the shell, leaving the casing of gunpowder in his left hand. The explosive is pushed back into the strap, then his right hand swipes around his face, gathering sweat he can then squeeze into the powder. This makes a paste that he then spreads along the hinges, then to the locking mechanism itself. Happy with the job, Dusty jumps down the stairs, pushing Aya down after she dispatches a zombie that somehow made it up a few steps.

"Cover your ears," he aims the M93R at the middle of the goop, pulling the trigger.

First there was nothing after the ping of the ricochet, but that is replaced by an explosion, heat, noise. The zombies at the base of the stairs tumble over from the explosion, but by the time they regain their vertical stance, the two humans are up and through the door. Dusty grabs Aya's arm and holds her in place as they arrive in what appears to be a rather large foyer for a mansion.

11

"This is it, Host Mansion..." Aya is still enthralled by how impressive the main entrance is, even after years of working here.

"Suitable name, considering..." her partner in crime seems to be less impressed, but that is normal, given his hatred for any maker of Bio-Weapons.

"I'm surprised the Islands connect into the main hall, seems a little unsafe," her friend grunts an agreement, his eyes scanning the hall for any threats.

"_I see you made it to my humble abode, with far more ammunition than I'd like, but I'll take whatever good luck I can get..._"

"THOMAS!" Dusty runs into the middle of the mansion, his face red with held-back anger and frustration.

"_So glad to see you still have that spark... Been so long since I've had a proper fight..._" the voice comes from everywhere, bounced around by several speakers embedded into the ceiling.

Aya walks up next to Dusty and she asks, simply, "Why are you doing this?"

A laugh fills the hall, forcing them to cover their ears, "_Did he not tell you the details of our first encounter? Such a shame, Dusty.. I thought you were a gentleman..._"

"I threw him into a vat of molten steel..."

Aya blinks at the brunette before him, "I'd be pissed too..."

"No time for that, where is the Director's Office?" Aya is caught off-guard again by his directness.

"Second floor, just past the main dining room."

Suddenly they are running, up the stairs, through the dining room, past the upper-kitchen, and are facing a solid steel door emblazoned with the standard Bio-Hazard label. Dusty kicks the metal in frustration, his right hand grasping the grip of the handgun so tightly, his knuckles are turning white. Aya places a hand on his arm, then pulls him from the door, motioning to another hall down the way.

"Come on, we can get probably get around somewhere through here.."

"What's the point? He probably has any back way in rigged or blocked off... We need to get him to come to us..." Dusty's eyes arc upwards, locking with one of the speakers.

"_I heard you.. Good luck getting me out..._"

**END**


	4. Chapter 4

**Resident Evil: Fate Can't Escape Destiny**

Dusty smiles as he raises the M93R, _Bingo..._ then fires a round into the speaker, destroying it in a rain of sparks and broken metal.

Silently he leads Aya back down the stairs, pushing her toward a metal door that possibly leads lower into the labs under the mansion, "Your Access Code still work?"

She hesitates, Dusty hates hesitations, "I.. It should... Access Request, Authorization, Akechi Echo Seven."

The control panel to the left of the door opens up, a retinal scanner rising up from the hidden crevice, "**Retinal Scan Required for Access to Isis Lab.**"

"Ooohh..." Dusty smiles, giving her a hopeful smile as she leans in to the scanner.

"I doubt I have clearance for the Isis Lab now..." the door beeps and slides open, cold air rushing past them, cold air with the stench of death heavy in its wake.

"Oh god... What did he do?"

The brunette applies a grim expression to his face, "The T-Virus.. We're going to have more of the zombies from the hub we just escaped from..."

Brown eyes watch as steadier hands than earlier pick the weapon from her pocket, pulling the slide back to chamber a new round. Aya has changed, it's so evident, hopefully for the better. She locks gazes with him, her face sharing the same hopeful smile as he steps in first, handgun aimed down, but held up just enough for head-shots, or knee-caps farther down the stairwell. Lighter steps from Aya's sneakers echo his heavier booted steps as the two make their way down into the lab.

He eyes the large gashes in the walls, which Aya promptly explains, "The elevators were loaded over capacity... Too many new people who didn't understand the time-frame between High Tide Evacuation, and the actual flood..."

"High Tide Evacuation?" it's more conversation to ease his own apprehension, but some of it will stick, something he can use.

"This island is settled lower than sea level... When the tide comes in, it literally floods the whole island. They evacuate the facility first, removing all personnel, or so I thought... Then a Sweeper team comes in to clean out the Islands, procuring samples of the BOW as needed. Once that is done, a lock-down commences, sealing all HCF buildings to prevent irrevocable water damage."

"So, how long until the tide rolls in?" he doesn't like where this is going...

The redhead checks her watch, a gasp leaving her lips, "Less than three hours..."

"How long until the Sweeper team comes in?" hopefully this is brighter news...

"They should be here by now... I wonder where they are?"

"_Perhaps I can answer that..._" Thomas has found them again, no surprise there...

"Enlighten me..." Dusty is bored of hearing that mutated voice already...

"_With Isis reaching perfection thanks to the work of Doctor Akechi there... HCF didn't see the need to continue research, so the island is being left to the sea.. Aya there, and several other non-essential personnel are expended, making way for the next batch of great minds... Instead of letting this all go to rot, I talked them into letting me have some fun... We got wind of your mission to the S.T.A.R.S. headquarters, it proved most useful in helping us capture you... From there HCF let me have free reign on how I dispose of you..._"

The brunette snorts and shakes his head, "And this is the best you could do? Zombies? Please, there was a greater chance of me dying to the Behemoths in Island Serenity..."

The following words almost cause Dusty to groan from how obvious they are, "_Good you see it that way... I brought them down here to play with you..._"

11

Aya arches an eyebrow as her partner runs a hand down his face, letting an excruciatingly exasperated sigh leave his lips, "Are you kidding me? Then why should I go down there? I can gain access to your little hideaway from upstairs..."

_You had to ask that, didn't you?_ the redhead sighs herself as the door is slammed shut behind them.

Dusty looks up at Aya as her green eyes pierce into his body, "Sorry, his arrogance annoys me to no end... Good news though."

A sigh like no other fills the stairwell as Aya takes the bait, "And what is that?"

The smile that adorns her friend's face forces the Asian woman into a nervous feeling, "More stuff to kill!"

"Why are you so happy to kill monsters?" this question has been eating at Aya for awhile now, and it demands an answer.

The brunette looks left and right at the end of the stairs and replies, "Because I hate killing people. I have a lot of hidden anger, killing virus-enhanced monsters gives me a little reprieve from the pressure in the back of my head. Granted I know most of the monsters were once people.. When that is the case, I feel it necessary to end their suffering, allow them to move on... If I have to kill someone, I'll do it, but not innocent bystanders..."

"Is that why you didn't kill me?" another nagging question.

Dusty drowns a round into the head of a slowly approaching zombie before replying, "I couldn't stop staring at you. Figured I'd knock you to the floor before you died from my inaction against the choppers."

_Couldn't stop staring at me?_ these words echo in her mind as they round another corner, Aya absentmindedly guiding the strange man before her to the main computer room.

Aya finds herself looking at the form walking in front of her, wondering just where he actually came from, what kind of life he lived before he arrived here. This is not the appropriate time to start thinking about things like this, but something about Dusty just nags at her, demanding attention, craving to be thought about. She doesn't even remember raising her own weapon and shooting a zombie, the round digging into the shoulder and sending it to the floor in a spin. What she does remember is the look on Dusty's face as he stomps on the head, his eyes full of sorrow, his mouth turned into a snarl, two conflicting emotions that only increase her want to know this man.

"Dusty?"

11

Her voice is small as it calls his name, Dusty looking at her as he scrapes the brain matter from his boot onto a mat in one of the offices they passed by, "Yup?"

He feels it, her eyes looking at him, the question obvious in her look as she speaks, "Why do this?"

"Because no one else will stand up for the atrocities I saw in Riley. Someone has to make Umbrella and companies like them pay for their sins. I lost fifty-five thousand people that night in Riley... I intend to make the engineers of bio-weapons feel each and every life they destroyed."

"What about me? I helped make Isis a more perfect weapon.. Even though I had no idea what I was working on, I still had a hand in creating another blight on the world."

Dusty sighs and places a hand on her shoulder, "Now isn't exactly the time to be dealing with this... I understand how confusing this is... But trust me, everything will be handled after we escape... If we don't make it out of here, at least we will have avoided the awkward conversation."

A smile crosses his lips as she laughs a little, then a snort fills the air, Aya's face immediately blushing in embarrassment. Dusty turns from her and aims his handgun down the hallway again, swinging the weapon into doors first before looking behind it, only seeing the occasional zombie here or there, most of them killed with silent methods. Finally Aya taps his shoulder and points to a door, but what lies inside is not what he expects.

"What in the name of heaven?" the handgun is lowered, almost dropped to the floor as Dusty slowly walks among the large stasis tubes and buzzing consoles.

Each of them houses a bio-organic weapon in different stages of mutation, some empty, others bursting at the seams with mutated body. One strikes him with such force he almost buckles over at the look of it. Resting against the back wall is a tube about forty feet long, but curves back behind itself two, possibly three times, making whatever was inside roughly one-hundred and twenty feet long at the maximum. Thick glass shards adorn the floor around it, but even that isn't the worst part. Draped over one side of the chamber is a thick snakeskin, almost the exact size of the chamber it once resided in.

The brunette picks a section of the scaled skin up with the barrel of the M93R and holds it over to Aya, "What is it?"

She doesn't look at it, instead her gaze is focused on the computer next to the capsule end, numbers and letters flying over the screen before the redhead finally replies, "Blood Flower. Was created while testing a size-increasing serum derived from Isis. They say there was no negative effect until the last couple of injections, where it grew a large flower made of its own skin on its forehead. Apparently the flower pours blood from it when the snake senses prey nearby."

"Can't trust it," Dusty curses himself for not holding that back.

"What?"

"Nothing," he quickly begins walking away before he feels the hand on the back of his shirt.

"What?" green eyes cut deep into his own brown eyes.

"It bleeds for a while and doesn't die... Can't trust things that bleed for extended periods of time...?" he smiles awkwardly, but it dies as he sees the fire rise up in her face.

She pushes him back against a stasis chamber before spitting back, "Fucking asshole."

11

Thomas drapes a hand lazily over the control panel on the desk he's currently occupying. His mind has tossed back and forth the decision of what to release first. He's already eliminated one option: Just pumping the basement labs with T-Virus, or Isis. No fun in that, so he's back to debating between the re-engineered Lickers, Behemoths, or both. There are pros and cons to each choice and the pros are winning the battle. He acknowledges that they found the room where the Blood Flower was stored, but doesn't care, as a giant snake isn't fun to watch, but a Behemoth tearing his bane apart? Now THAT is entertainment of the highest caliber.

"Oh, fuck it," his fingers enter the codes to release both Lickers and Behemoths.

11

"Come HERE!" Dusty grabs Aya by the only thing he could reach, which sadly is her hair, yanking the woman away from the wall and glass tubes as they explode from the arrival of a larger monster.

Dusty immediately fires a grenade into the monster, using the time it buys them to run through the storage room, pushing Aya around corners and down stairs, running under a large bio-hazard door. The brunette fires a round from his M93R into the control mechanism, smiling as the door drops to the floor with a louder-than-necessary thud.

As he turns to make sure Aya is okay, she steps into his face, "You need to tell me something, anything to help me understand this mess... Why is Thomas so intent on killing you?"

Dusty examines the hall they are in, finding no immediate threats, he turns to the Asian woman he is partnered with, "It started in Riley, Umbrella built it as a carbon-copy of their first test-ground, Raccoon City. I was a cop working in the homicide department when the entire town went to shit. I met Leon Kennedy and Claire Redfield there, and together we worked out way through the city, killing what we could, escaping what we couldn't. Everyone I ever knew and cared about died that day... Even my boss Charles Steiner wasn't anywhere near the man I remembered... He killed so many people with a promise of escape, pushing them from the roof of the Steel Mill into vats of molten steel.. We got him out, put him through therapy... He got a clean bill of health, went to a home we got for him, and hung himself in the kitchen... Thomas must have been infected by the Nemesis with the G-Virus.. It did something inside of his body, mutating into a different virus, as he had none of the characteristics of a G-Class Mutant. He released an experimental BOW named Twist, a mass of muscle and tentacles... In the refinery, Leon managed to get Thomas tangled up with Twist, and I shot a grenade lodged in Twist's body, knocking them both into the vat of molten steel... I don't know exactly how Thomas managed to survive, and I don't rightly care either.. I'm going to kill him, for good this time. I have to.. This has put the end in sight for my nightmare..."

11

_My God..._ Aya can't even begin to imagine what experiencing something like that can do to someone, but that must be the defining moments for what made Dusty into the man she sees before her.

The sorrow in his eyes betrays the strong stance he has, fingers tight on the grip of the handgun, jaw tight with determination. This must be how all the survivors are, not really fighting to make the world a better place, but fighting to put an end to the nightmares Umbrella created for them. These aren't the heroes you normally expect, they are more modern, reflecting the events that shaped them. The nightmare can't end for them if more people experience that same nightmare. Aya puts a hand on Dusty's shoulder, bringing her face close to his, resting her forehead against his chest and hugging him.

"I'm so sorry you went through all that... I hope your nightmare ends tonight too..."

Nothing is said for a decent amount of time, then, "Thanks, Aya..." as he hugs her back.

11

It felt really good to get all of that off his chest, but it feels even better to have someone hug him, accept his pain. Is this how it happened for Jill and Chris? Leon and Claire? Is this how their attachments to each other started? Sharing a common experience? Dusty knows this isn't the time to be thinking about such things, but it feels right, and right now, Dusty could definitely use something going right for once. But enough time for this, as something pulls his attention toward a door that is slightly ajar, a door he didn't notice earlier.

Aya is released and pushed behind him as the M93R is drawn, slowly sliding the almost empty clip out and replacing it with a fresh one before starting a slow walk toward the door, "Careful."

A light flicks on from behind the door, prompting Dusty to pick up his pace, arriving at the edge of the door and slowly tilting his head into the open gap. Nothing, lights must be on a timer of some kind, so he pushes the door open and walks in, M93R leading the way. Aya moves past him to the computer desk in the back corner of the room as Dusty begins turning the furniture over, looking for more ammunition, another gun, something. He comes up empty and so does Aya, the woman sliding back from the computer with an exasperated sigh.

"What has your panties in a bunch?" a couch cushion is thrown over his head.

"The computers for basic research are all linked... But it seems everything in the BOW labs are separated. I can only get bits and pieces of data... I hate so say this, but you might have to blow the door to his office to get him out..." Aya smirks at him, which causes him to smile and nod.

"Nothing useful in this room at all, wonder why the lights came on..? …..Son of a bitch, GET OUT!" Dusty pulls Aya toward the door, spins her around him, then pushes her out the door, just as a large metal plate slams down over it.

Dusty punches the wall next to the door, damaging the stucco wall, "FUCK!"

"_Now now... Such language, and with a lady nearby! Do as I say and she'll be okay, maybe._"

The brunette glares at the computer monitor as Thomas's face appears on it, looking exactly how it did all those years ago, "Why should I? Why would I care what happens to her?"

"You don't have a choice in the matter, if she dies, you die, it's all the same to me." Thomas smiles at him behind the camera, which further enrages Dusty.

"What do I need to do?" a hidden door opens up, prompting the man to walk through.

11

"_Do as I say and he'll be okay, for now..._"

Aya growls and clenches a fist in anger, "What do you want me to do?"

Before her, a large partition appears in the wall, opening up to a long hallway with a single glass tube at the end, "_Get in..._"

**END**


	5. Chapter 5

**Resident Evil: Fate Can't Escape Destiny**

Dusty's eyes slowly adjust to the darkness he is enveloped in once he entered the room Thomas opened up for him. Dead bodies line the floor, blood cakes the walls, the remaining tatters of clothing on the floor reveal these were the scientists of this floor of the facility. Dusty grimaces at how the smell doesn't bother him anymore, hell the whole scene doesn't really bother him anymore. Something yanks his attention behind him, Dusty spinning around as something flies past his right shoulder.

A single light turns on in the distance, coating the room in enough light to not blind the soldier, who in turn stares at the figure who attacked him, "_Like it? It's a pet project of mine..._"

"Why would you do this to a person? What did you do to him?" Dusty takes in every detail of the person before him.

Every joint twitches, each twitch causing a giggle to leave his snarled mouth, which then causes blood to squirt from the tubes plugged into his exposed brain. Blood and some material coat his arms and legs, giving the giggles even more of a menacing sound. Dusty tries to follow the tubes up into the ceiling, figure out where they are going, but the ceiling is too high to allow the light source to reveal its secrets.

"_I wanted to see the full potential of a single human emotion.. This one was happiness..._"

The brunette raises the handgun, but Thomas's next words stop him, "_He was so happy when we were done with him... But that happiness morphed into a need to share happiness the only way he knew how... His name is Bradley Shawl. You might remember him.. He was in the news a while back, murdered fourteen people in a church... His idea of happiness is killing people... As you can see, the experiment still needs a little tweaking... Please, feel free to dispose of this refuse for me..._"

As soon as Thomas says 'dispose' what remains of Bradley giggles maniacally and charges for the brunette, who dodges and fires a round into the back of his left knee. As the two dance around each other, Thomas is busy rambling about something that doesn't matter as Dusty uses his M79 to stop some form of makeshift blade that Brad is wielding. Sparks fly from the connection of metal as the two struggle to either hurt the other, or prevent the hurt, Dusty finally getting the leverage needed to raise a leg up and kick hard into his opponent's knee, dropping the experiment to the floor.

As Bradley attempts to stand back up, the brunette presses the M93R against his exposed brain, "Why?"

White eyes connect with brown, busted blood vessels compounding the creepy factor as tears run from Bradley's eyes and he suddenly breaks down into sobbing laughs, hands reaching up to grab hold of Dusty's clothing. The eyes, even without pupils, tells Dusty everything he needs to know. As Dusty pulls the trigger, he finds that Bradley has found forgiveness in himself, and managed to communicate his own atonement for his sins. As the lights kick on to the sound of Thomas's applause, Dusty wipes his own single tear away, his face curled into a snarl of held back rage.

"_Such a good show, sad thing though, she won't be as entertaining..._"

"What did you do to her!?"

11

"Let me out!" Aya pounds her fists against the glass uselessly.

Outside the tube she's trapped in, it's dark, so dark that it almost feels alive. The blue lights inside her cell aren't helping matters at all, their periodic fluctuation giving her a banging headache. No word has been heard from Director Weidick since she stepped into the tube, then found herself rising into the air. Now, there's nothing, no sound, no sight, not even a smell, nothing to give her some kind of edge.

For the first time in her life, even after the events of the past half a day, Aya Akechi is truly terrified, "_You there, Aya?_"

The sound of him using her first name makes her almost vomit, "Fuck you..."

"_Not so nice, not when I bring good news.._" Aya has a sudden idea that makes her smile.

Before Thomas can reveal his good news, she cuts him off, "You've recently discovered that you aren't a man? That those growths aren't tentacles, but your own perky breasts?"

There is silence returned to her, which only makes her smile bigger, his next words make the smile almost permanent, "_You've been around Dusty too long, Miss Akechi..._"

The redhead can't reply before the glass door flies open and she finds herself forced out and to the floor, the force of the impact knocking the wind from her lungs, "Aya!?"

She can't believe it's him, not even after he picks her up and looks into her eyes. He has blood on him, fresh, untainted blood from a person. She looks into his eyes and sees a sadness that rattles her even further.

"What happened?" his voice is concerned, but she finds she can't answer.

All she can do is point to the tube and gasp for words, finding none as her mind is scattered to the four winds and back. Dusty walks over to the stasis tube and sniffs inside, reeling back and coughing before returning to her and swiping the loose strands of hair from her face.

"He filled the tube with a gaseous form of lithium... Sneaky bastard... It is currently giving you an anxiety attack, come on, let's get you somewhere else..."

11

Dusty picks Aya up and carries her from the room he killed Bradley in, hoping to find a calmer place to help her down from the anxiety attack, _He's even more twisted than in Riley... I wonder why?_

It occurs to him that he's not even questioning how Thomas came back, his mind finding that worrying about that detail is useless compared to the pressing matters at hand. After a decent walk through the depths of the lab, Dusty finally finds a room with a couch to place his redhead compatriot down on. He swipes the hair from her face and sits down next to her, his brown eyes locking with her frantic green.

"Aya, listen to me, it's going to be okay. Nothing to worry about.." his voice is calm, yet forceful, the steps to help someone suffering from a panic attack coming to mind.

The Asian woman locks gazes with him, but her breath just picks up in pace, becoming raspy gasps as she's taking in less air than she's letting out. Cinnamon locks flip through the air as Dusty rummages through the room for a bag of some kind, anything to help monitor her breathing and give her something to focus on. On his third lap around the room, Dusty sighs in exasperation as he comes up empty-handed, but an idea hits him as his mind focuses on Aya's eye movements.

Dusty drops down in front of Aya, grabs hold of her head with both hands gently, keeping her eyes locked with his as he begins speaking slowly, "Repeat after me.. This is my voice. It is a gift from the angels, a blessing by God. My voice allows me to speak what my heart wants.."

The confusion in her eyes as she tries to focus on him, his words, so Dusty speaks again, "This is my voice..."

"Th.. This..." a fit of rasping gasps fills the room as Aya tries to repeat the phrase.

Time for a change of tactics, "What is your name?"

Silence, then her eyes slowly stop darting back and forth, "A.. Aya.."

"Good!" he smiles, which causes her to smile back. "Who am I?"

"Dusty..." her breathing is returning to a somewhat normal pace, meaning she is now getting oxygen.

"Where are we?" should be another easy question, he'll take Island for an answer.

"To..." not what he is expecting, "together..." definitely not what he was expecting.

"What?" Dusty releases her head, confused by her response.

_Do I read into that? Let it go and ignore it? CAN I ignore it?_ He continues to help Aya come back to somewhat sanity as these questions and her response echo throughout his mind.

"Thanks, I think I'm okay now..." He knows she isn't quite there yet, but he'll give her the space she needs.

11

_Did I really say that? Together? What is wrong with me? _Aya appreciates him backing away, but is eternally grateful for his help through the panic attack.

It was like life was rushing past her as she stood still, as she focused on one thing, countless other important things passed her by, which forced her to try and focus on those. She was getting lost in everything she might miss, but Dusty's voice brought her back, the words 'my voice allows me to speak what my heart wants' having echoed through her scattered thoughts. Is that what her heart wants though? To be with him? Aya isn't sure, her apprehensions about who he might be causing her inner turmoil. All of this needs to be put on the side though, handled later... Her main goal now is to get off this island, escape this nightmare.

She reaches for the handgun on the other end of the couch, but Dusty's hand grabs hers first, "You sure?"

"What does that mean?"

Dusty sighs and lets go of her hand, "Just wanting to make sure you're ready to go back out there."

"I'm still shaken, but I think I'll be fine.. Never had a panic attack before like that.. It was absolutely terrifying. I hope that was the only one I'll ever have..."

11

Thomas screams and destroys the monitor before him, so angry that neither of his plans worked. If his little project didn't work, he was hoping the redhead would be too startled to be of any help to him. He has had enough of the games, nothing he has tried has worked so far, so now it's time he gets down there and deals with this problem himself. Twist failed him in Riley, Bradley failed him here, no more toys, just serious face-destroying.

It's what Dusty wants, a one-on-one fight, and that's what the little fucker will get, "Unlock all doors, access Code: Whiskey Zero Tango."

As the bio-weapon walks through his secure door and into the dank, disgusting lobby of the mansion, Thomas can't help but think he is forgetting something. His personal firearm, assorted knives, and small bit of plastic explosive are all on his person, but something seems amiss, not quite right with the world. No time to wrack his brain for it, as there is killing to be done. Heavy footsteps echo through the lobby as he rounds the end of the stairs and prepares to enter the lower labs. A loud roar alerts Thomas to the oncoming attack, the Behemoth charging at him from the stairwell, placing both hands on the edge of the door, ripping it apart for both more momentum, and to make room for its gargantuan body.

"Dumbass.." Thomas jumps over the beast, landing on the back of its neck before driving a tentacle through the base of the skull, severing the spinal column in one strike.

The beast stands upright from the pain, then begins to fall back into the doorway, Thomas readjusting his position to ride the dead body down the stairs, not even caring anymore of alerting the only humans in the facility to his current actions. This just needs to end now, before they find the one thing in this facility he does not want them to find..

As the mutant makes his way through the facility, he recalls how no one seemed to wonder where his personal attack helicopters came from, "The hangar for those is in the upper basement level, which they should be encountering rather soon.. No easy escape for you, there is no escape from this nightmare anymore, Dusty..."

11

"Dusty?" Aya turns to look back at her escort, who is staring at their current obstacle so hard that he is drooling, all color gone from his face.

"Spiders? Seriously? SERIOUSLY!?" Dusty throws a trashcan he found nearby through the webbing, his features now red from anger and frustration.

Red locks swirl around as Aya applies a smug smile, "Don't like spiders?"

"No. Especially man-sized ones... Another way around?" it's more of a hope than a question really.

"Nope. No such luck Dusty. We go through.. I thought I was the one prone to panic attacks now after my recent gassing?"

"Just, don't..." His handgun is raised as the brunette makes his way through the broken webbing, his skin almost audibly crawling.

There is nothing Dusty hates more in this world than spiders, the things are disgusting, gross-looking, and just flat out nasty. Zombies? Check. Tyrants? No problem. Hordes of BOWs? A-OKAY! Spiders? Even small ones? No thank you. Thomas must have released these personally, just to fuck with him. It's okay though, he knows something that Thomas doesn't exactly like, and that will be used to his advantage later. For now though, Dusty just has to get through this part of the lab with his skin intact.

"Holy shit!" Dusty drains an entire clip into the spider as it rounds the corner, dead before it even hits the concrete flooring.

Aya walks past him, pats his on the back and replies, "Nice shooting, Tex..."

"I fucking hate spiders..." the empty clip clatters to the floor and the last partial he has is slid in.

_Ten rounds left to make it out of here... Fantastic..._

11

"_Door Override Code Confirmed. Emergency Override Engaged for Laboratory Hangar._"

Slowly the lights kick on, one row at a time, until the entire hangar is well-lit. As the last light kicks on, a large form slides back into the shadows of a darker hallway, the hiss coming from it being lost to the sounds of generators turning on and computers powering up. The last helicopter, the one Thomas was riding in during the High Tide Alert earlier, rests in the center of the room, almost pristine besides a large burn mark on the large door on the side. The computers around the helipad boot up and begin pre-flight diagnostics and weather checks, showing just how automated this facility is during High Tide. After the computers all show green lights, the generators turn off and the computers one-by-one shut down.

"_Helicopter Transport Green-Lighted. Activating Self-Destruct Sequence. Silent Timer. Fifteen Minutes Remaining Before Complete Destruction of Isle Eras Facility. There will be no further announcement._"

11

"Would you stop screaming for one second!" Aya clamps her hand around Dusty's mouth as her ears pick up the female voice.

"Helicopter. Destruct. Fifteen? Oh dear god... We have to go! Leave it!" her hands grab Dusty's shirt collar and drag him away from the dead spider he was kicking.

Aya can't believe it, Dusty actually got Thomas out of his office, and made him unlock all the doors. It goes to show just how much of a pain in the ass her new friend is to Thomas, just the thought of him being alive is enough to get the Director to do stupid things. But that means Thomas is in the lab somewhere, and coming for them. Another corner is taken, then a run up the stairs, the voice coming from the next floor up, a part of the lab she herself hasn't been in before, even supervised.

This is when she runs into it, whatever 'it' is. The mass before her is scaly, black, and moving, blocking the door to the room beyond. Dusty walks up behind her and examines the mass as well, a smug look on his face peaks her curiosity.

"What is it?"

"Do you like snakes?"

Aya's heart sinks, "Blood Flower?"

Her foot sinks into something slick as she backs up a step, the mystery item being a slowly increasing pool of blood, "Need further proof? It knows we are nearby..."

"We need to get it to move.. This place is going to explode in about eleven minutes..."

"Well, isn't this just a bright spot in my day..." her friend chambers a new shell into the M79 and closes the barrel with an air of finality.

**END**


	6. Chapter 6

**Resident Evil: Fate Can't Escape Destiny**

Thomas drops a foot through the spider before him as it lunges for him, blood and spider-bits exploding around him. His stride never falters, still keeping up his speed, rounding corners as if he was weightless. There isn't much time, never enough time to finish his plans and get rid of Dusty and his bitch friend.. A sound reaches his ears, wet sliding noises, which promptly cause him to stop, the color gone from his face.

"No.. No, NO NO! Not Blood Flower! MOTHER FUCKER!" the door crumbles from his rage-filled punch.

The venom of the Blood Flower mutated in the last injection of Isis, bonding with the virus. When the venom was applied to Isis, the results were that the venom easily dissolved the virus, rendering anything infected by Isis a pool of gunk. Thomas ordered it destroyed weeks ago, but yet again, the imbeciles that work here have failed him, again.

Worst parts of this revelation would be, "I fucking hate snakes and it sounds like it's in the hangar with the helicopter..."

Another sound reaches his ears now, two distinct sets of foot steps and a voice he's come to hate so much over the past decade, "Maybe I won't have to deal with either of them... They distract each other out of the hangar, I get away no problem..."

A shiny spot in a day of darkness and anger, but still a shiny spot.

11

Dusty huffs and slides against the wall, he has run out of ideas on how to get this beast to move, his mind having thrown out about thirty different ideas. Aya is apparently as exasperated as he is, her hair frazzled from her running her hands through it countless times. Dusty checks his cracked watch, about ten minutes left if he timed it right, ten minutes to get the snake out of the hangar and the chopper about a third of a mile from the island before it explodes.

A smile crosses his lips as Dusty finds an idea that will distract the snake, "Aya, another entrance to the hangar?"

"Of course, and I think it... Yeah! It's big enough for Blood Flower to get in or out through, you got an idea?"

He nods then follows Aya through the facility, dropping a few more of his precious handgun rounds into the BOWs that attempt to slow down their movements. Soon they find themselves on the other side of the hangar, their eyes finally getting to see the full scope of the snake as its body is slithered through the entire hangar, thankfully nowhere near the helicopter. The brunette backtracks a few rooms, hopefully the distance will give them enough time to get the chopper started and in the air. Dusty places the last two grenades on the floor and grabs a fire extinguisher from nearby. Using the firing mechanism from the M79 mixed with a lab coat that was torn into strings, Dusty rigs up a makeshift timing device for the homemade explosive resting in the back of the room. Another few straps of cloth and Dusty grabs a Bunsen burner from the counter, resting the flame under the taunt cloth strap, then he pushes Aya back toward the other door into the Hangar.

If Dusty built it right, the flame should burn the strap by the time they get about halfway to the door, then the weight should fall, pulling the trigger on the firing mechanism, which will detonate the grenades and extinguisher right around the time they get to the stairs. The snake, if it moves as slow as it looks, should get into that room as Dusty and Aya climb into the helicopter. Hopefully the sound of the flames covers up the sound of the propellers chopping the air. Then by the time the snake makes it back to the hangar they should be in the air.

"Come on, Aya. This way," he guides her toward the stairs as a muffled explosion causes their steps to stutter for a brief second.

Then Dusty hears it, the heavy scraping sound of the snake moving, "NOW!"

The two race up the stairs and into the hangar just as the tail of Blood Flower disappears through the large doors at the far end of the hangar. Aya climbs into the cabin as Dusty jumps into the cockpit, his eyes going over the controls. Nothing looks familiar, his mind racing over the controls from the Riley Police Department Helicopter he piloted twice in his seven-year career.

"Oh get over!" Aya pushes him into the co-pilot seat as she snaps the switches up and starts the machine.

Dusty takes this time to search the cabin for anything to use in case his plan goes wrong, finding a half-loaded Colt Python under the pilot seat. The chamber is snapped shut and Dusty lowers himself back into the co-pilot seat as Aya pulls the stick up, causing their transport to raise into the air. The doors overhead automatically start opening, the cool night air greeting them with rabid abandon as Dusty looks down.

"No sign of it, we're home free!" words spoken too early as something strikes the chopper, causing it to lurch hard to the left.

"What the fuck was that!?" Aya struggles to keep the vehicle on its course upward, as Dusty jumps up and slides the door to the cabin open.

What greets him within makes the brunette wish he never opened the door. A large scaly body has managed to wiggle itself through both doors of the chopper, its weight keeping the helicopter from raising any higher. Dusty growls and steps back into the cockpit, frowning at Aya as he grabs the controls, trying to help his friend keep the chopper airborne.

"We're gonna have to set it down, Aya... Blood Flower isn't gonna let us go so easily!" this is when alarms start going off.

"SHIT! We're going down hard.. BRACE FOR IT!"

The helicopter plummets to the floor of the hangar, Blood Flower's body snaked through the rafters and beams of the building, not allowing them to go anywhere. Dusty straps himself into the seat as does Aya, both of them dropping their heads into their laps. The landing is harsh, the sheer force sending Dusty through the windshield and into the hangar as something explodes around them. Aya screams off in the distance, but Dusty can't focus on it, the pain in his body, the blood in his eyes, all of it demanding attention he doesn't have.

_Jesus, how do I find myself in these situations all the time anymore?_

Dusty slowly raises to his feet as the flames die down around him, which strikes a nerve with him. As his eyes adjust to the pain and he swipes the blood from his face, he realizes the fire didn't die down, the snake has surrounded him. He hears the hissing before the blood starts dropping to the floor in waves. His boots squeak as they turn and step in the blood, a look of panic worn on the soldier's face as he spins around, trying to pin-point where the face of the monster is. A flash of light in his peripheral draws his attention to the Colt resting in the blood. Fingers wrap around the grip, the arm raises the weapon up, the eyes come into contact with the yellow slits of the eyes of Blood Flower.

"Oh fuck..."

11

Aya slowly comes to with her face pressed into the control panel for the burning helicopter. As she wakes, all the nearby sounds slowly start trickling into her mind, the fires first, the alarms next, and lastly is a voice in the distance, masked by a hissing sound. This forces her to stand up and work her way out of the twisted wreckage, her skin tearing on broken and bent metal, but she ignores it. Dusty can't take out the Blood Flower on his own, hopefully Aya can provide some help.

"Dusty!?" the redheads climbs over a chunk of the hangar, sliding over and dropping down in front of a pair of boots that are not worn by her friend.

"Not here..." Thomas reaches down and picks her up, his face twisted into an angry snarl as he pulls his free hand back, then swings it forward, the pain across her face agonizing.

"Where is he!?" her old boss screams at her as he brings the hand back around, back-handing her too hard, blood flying from her lips.

Tears sting the edges of her eyes as the pain is quickly doubling, tripling, becoming too much for her, "Dead! The crash killed him!"

This does not seem to be the answer he wants, as he throws her back into the smoldering piece of the hangar rafters, his face changing emotions as he backs up from her, "No! He was MINE! I WAS SUPPOSED TO KILL HIM!"

Aya starts to crawl away from Thomas, but he drops a foot on her leg, pinning her in place and almost snapping her shin to pieces, "I can smell him, Aya... Don't think you can fool me again..."

_Shit..._

11

Dusty screams in pain as the snake slams its face into his body, sending him flying back into the wall, the magnum still tight in his grip. Blood fills the air as he slides down into the constantly growing pool of blood emitting from the BOW before him. A round is fired from the weapon, the bullet digging in to the flesh above the snake's right eye, but it doesn't react, just keeps slithering toward him.

"AAAH!" that scream is Aya's!

It was supposed to be a simple information mission… Sneak in, obtain all you can on the subject, and flag your transport at the Escape Zone. But all that kind of took a turn down a long, terrible road. Which is where Dusty finds himself now as he stares up at a gargantuan reptile, its tongue darting out to lick the fresh blood from its scaly lips. The revolver is heavy in his hands, fatigue deciding to rear its ugly head as he raises the weapon. The sights are fixed on the bloody flower resting on the snake's head, his index finger squeezing the trigger slowly…

_It's like I'm destined to fight these things forever… Are the Fates and Destiny herself conspiring against me?_

Anything pouring that much blood must be a weak spot... Hopefully his aim is still good, as their entire survival counts on this. Before his finger can complete the trigger pull, something wraps around his neck and pulls him clear as the snake bares its fangs and slams down where he was once sitting. Everything blurs as he slides along the floor, finally coming to rest next to Aya, a large cut and several bruises growing on her face.

"I knew it... I knew you were still alive... Blood Flower had to be chasing something to let loose this much blood..." there is something odd in Thomas's voice, a fear almost, apprehension most definitely.

Dusty tries to stand up and confront his nemesis, but Thomas kicks him in the right knee, pain coursing through his body worse than ever. If he keeps getting injuries to that knee he won't have it in a few years. Blood-covered eyes lock with Thomas's, his face curled into a look of anger and determination. Thomas starts to ramble on about something, some win that doesn't matter, some victory over the petty mortals that plague this world, so Dusty raises the magnum and fires it through Thomas's chest, right through the heart.

The mutant stumbles for two steps, then slowly turns around, "Really? You had a perfect opportunity and wasted it? A head shot MIGHT have stunned me..."

"I didn't want to stun you, I want to kill you..." Thomas runs up and kicks Dusty in the chest, sending the brunette into the air and landing awkwardly on the body of the destroyed chopper.

"You useless little man... You couldn't destroy me in a vat of molten steel. You aren't going to kill me with weapons of man... You need something more," Thomas produces a tentacle and begins walking toward him, rage he's never seen almost pouring from the mutant.

"I decided to go outside for help..." Dusty hopes this works out how he needs it to.

It starts to as a hissing sound slides around him, ripples flowing through the blood on the floor as Thomas reaches Dusty. The tentacle straightens out and he positions it right at Dusty's forehead. Before Thomas can deliver the killing blow, the wounded man shoves a hand into the still closing wound, pulling, clawing at whatever he can, causing more and more Isis-blood to flow freely. Thomas screams in pain and pushes back, sliding easily away in the blood. Dusty watches as Blood Flower slides around a turn, its eyes resting on Thomas's form, tongue darting out before it rears back, extending to its full height, mouth slowly opening.

"You are going to die here..." Thomas steps forward, but notices the growing shadow around him.

Dusty crawls to a kneeling position, holding himself up with the bent propeller, "If I am, so will you..."

The Blood Flower bares its fangs and lunges down, clasping Thomas in a death-grip, fangs piercing through his flesh easily. The red venom pours from the wounds, Thomas's skin turning purple, swelling, the scream from his foe is almost unbearable as he lashes at the mouth of the snake with his tentacles. Blood Flower never releases, hissing loudly as Thomas's body swells to almost four times his original size, then suddenly he begins to shrink, his body dissolving from the venom, the mass that was Thomas mixing with the blood on the floor.

"So I guess it's just you and me now huh?" the Blood Flower rears back and hisses loudly, happy with the meal, but apparently still wanting more.

The beast slams into the floor, sending a wave of blood into the air before starting a slide toward Dusty. He raises the magnum to fire, but Aya's voice cuts in, then the pops from her Nano as she begins firing, not at the snake, but at the tail rotor of the helicopter which rests just even with the head of the snake. These sounds draw the attention of the beast, so Dusty aims at the slowly spinning blade, each shot causing it to spin faster. He steadies his aim, and fires a round, the ricochet is nasty, almost flying back at him, but it did the trick, it broke the attachment around the rotor. The last round in the magnum is let go, this one hitting the rotor perfectly. It spins quickly, then flies off its position, driving down toward the snake. The beast rears up slightly to attack Aya, which raises the flower into the perfect position. The rotor drives through the flesh, severing the flower off neatly before slamming into the ceiling just above Aya's frantic head.

The snake begins to wobble from the attack, blood flow having increased exponentially. Aya clambers from the growing lake of blood and runs over to Dusty, the two of them slowly making their way out of the hangar as Aya calls out how long they have to escape the blast radius. They are down to the minutes, three to be exact, as Dusty and Aya emerge through a hole in the wall of the hangar, arriving outside, just at the edge of the island itself. There, sitting at the end of a dock is a large boat plastered with the HCF logo, and more concerning is the presence of the Coast Guard logo next to the HCF one as well.

"I thought the Sweeper crew wasn't coming in..?" Dusty helps Aya into the boat then climbs in himself, before the barrel of a machine gun is pointed into his back.

"Where is Director Weidick?" the voice is calm, cold, a well-trained soldier.

"Dead, as is everything else here," Dusty raises his hands up.

"Not you two. HQ? This is Squad Leader, Mission is Complete. Alpha Target is Eradicated. I found tw-" a bullet flies through his head, the soldier dropping dead instantly.

Dusty flings his head down toward Aya, her shaking hands holding the now-empty Nano, her eyes wide. He drops in to the boat, takes the gun from her and pushes the boat off the dock, flooring the throttle and rocketing the two of them away from the Island as the far off Islands begin to detonate and explode. The shockwaves from the explosions rock their boat, but it stays on course as Dusty turns to face his friend.

"Hey.. HEY!" she finally snaps to and looks at him.

"I looked into his eyes... There was a look of betrayal in them as he died..."

Dusty pulls her to him and holds her as the boat continues on its course for somewhere far away, "I'm sorry Aya... It seems I brought you into my Nightmare..."

As the Island falls into the distance, Dusty notices the large explosion as it lights up the night sky, this part of his nightmare is finally over. Where one part ends, another begins, as now he must battle HCF, end their work before they make something far worse than Umbrella. But hopefully he won't be alone in this nightmare, hopefully he has a partner to help him get through it, even as she cries into his chest.

**_You have to know who you are, if you don't you have nightmares._**

**END!**

**A/N: The quote is one I found by Stephen Rea, who played Finch in V for Vendetta. I thought it was a good quote and then I found that. _ Awesome points there. Now the story arc is complete, if you don't know the order, it's posted in my profile. Thanks again everyone!**


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